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E-flite Diamante 5e ARF Assembly Manual
I want you to use the same technique as before when checking
for the thrust, only this time only pull to 45 degrees, making
sure you are either directly into the wind, or directly down wind.
Using full aileron deflection, roll to the right. If the aircraft (what
I call )walks to the right, then you have too much down travel
on your ailerons. If you roll to the right and the model “walks”
to the left, you have too much up travel in your ailerons. Repeat
this process to the left as well until you are satisfied your model
is tracking true in the roll axis. Like with the thrust angles, don’t
expect your model to continue to roll for 5000’ on a string—it
just can’t be done. As per previous recommendations, go for the
majority situation. With the correct differential on your model,
you will be amazed how easy it is to do hesitations on lines.
Programmable Mixing
You will notice this subject is the last in the sequence but for
many, it’s the first—many people go straight to this section
first. My model has 5% mix on rudder. I get phone calls all
the time from excited pilots. Pete, I just test flew my New Edge;
it only has 8% Aileron mix and 4% knife-edge mixing. Boy I
think, they sure got to the details of trimming their model faster
than I can. The point I like to make throughout this article is
to stick to the correct sequence. Know that only after perhaps
10–15, perhaps 20 flights, are we going to work on the mixing
to fine tune our model.
What I would like to do is to break up this Programmable Mix
section into 2 sections. The first is the down line, torque offset
or throttle offset mixing and second, the traditional rudder
elevator/aileron mixing. Most people have a fairly good
understandung of the latter, ruder to elev/aileron but not many
are using Throttle offset mixing. Some I have seen, but only
in the pitch compensation. What I would hope you all pay
attention to is what your model is doing on a down line, or
at reduced throttle (Idle) in the roll or Yaw axis. It’s both these
areas I see people struggle. One of the benefits of judging our
events is you see a lot of strange trim situations. Remembering
back at the Nationals, I can clearly remember models rolling
on down lines, and yawing off axis causing some strange-
looking down line rolls. It’s almost impossible to have perfect
trim in roll at all speeds. All you can hope for is to mix out some
compensation to help reduce your workload. Both the Yaw and
Roll axis, in most cases have a bigger affect in your model track
on down lines than any other situation. Imagine what the effects
of a 5 degree error on every down line would mean. Over
the length of the box (Yes, I think we need a box to fly in) you
can drift in or out by as much as 150’ and the same applies
to the yaw axis. Ever noticed how hard it is to get your wings
level when approaching a pull corner with little time. With your
model rolling and yawing at different speeds, you will never
be consistent. It is hard enough to be absolutely sure that your
wings are level, let alone chase an out-of-trim situation.
